In the books' own words, not ours, with obvious scanning errors fixed. The later printing (1899) is folded below the first. Families often supplied these stories to the publisher, so check key dates.
From Commemorative biographical record of northwestern Ohio : including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams and Fulton, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and (1899), History of Defiance County, Ohio. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, etc.; military record; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; farm views, personal reminiscences, et (1883)
Peter Kettenring was born in Bavaria, Germany, January 10, 1835, and the same year his parents, Adam and Charlotte (Allspach) Kettenring, immigrated to America, and in 1838 settled on a farm in Henry County, Ohio, twelve miles southeast of Defiance. To them were born thirteen children; but three of this largo family are now living, viz., Peter, Catharine and Mary. Mrs. Kettenring died in 1855. Mr. Kettenring is still living and is smart and active for one of his years, having passed through hardship, toil and privation, incident to pioneer life. At that time there were no roads except Indian trails, and but one house between Defiance and one Mr. Hoffrichter, a distance of ten miles, and that was Henry Brechbill's, at Ayersville. Mr. Kettem-ing well remembers his father going to mill at Evansport, a distance of twenty-four miles, not with a team but with the grain on his back, following Indian trails and footpaths. In the spring of 1844, he came to Defiance, which has been his home most of the time since. In the spring of 1850, he engaged him.self to Messrs. Kimball & Frank, of this place, as an apprentice to learn the holding trade. Having served his time, he worked in Toledo and in Ft. Wayne. In the spring of 1856, he retm-ned to Defiance and leased the foundry then owned by Seaman & Stevens, which was situated upon the grounds on which the present building now stands, known as the Defiance iVfachine Works, where he commenced business with a cash capital of $125, and for the first six months employed but two men. Mr. Kettenring married Miss Frances Kahlo, of this place (Defiance), October 25, 1850, by whom he had eight children, five of whom are now living, three boys and two girls. In 1858, he sold out his interest in the foundry to Strong Brothers & Orcutt, Six months thereafter, he bought a fourth interest in this firm, and in 1800 Strong Brothers * bought out Orcutt, and the firm was changed to Strong & Co. In 1864, the foundry was destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt and run under the name of Kettenring & Strong. In 1860, William Laiister was connected with the firm, known as Kettenring, Strong & Lauster. In 1872, they were chartered as a stock company according to the laws of Oliio, and known as the Defiance Machine Works, for the manufacture of wood working machinery, engines, boilers, shafting, pulleys, hangers, plows, etc., together with all kinds of castings and also to do a general jobbing business, and a better class of work or machinery bearing the impress of fine master workmen can nowhere be found in Northwestern Ohio. These works are steadily increasing in business year by year, as will appear by comparing 1856, when two men were employed, with the present, 1882, now giving employment to about one hundred and twenty-five men. Mr Kettenring was chosen President of this company at the time of the charter in 1875, and has been reelected annually ever since.
As printed in History of Defiance County, Ohio. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, etc.; military record; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; farm views, personal reminiscences, et (1883). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
PETER KETTENRING.
Mr. Ivettenring, who is president of the Defiance Machine Works, Defiance, is one of the leading business men of this section, and the extensive foundry and machine works which his energy and foresight have built up are among the chief industries of Defiance, bringing to the city large amounts of money annually, and giving employment to many workmen. The plant is fitted up with a special view to the manufacture of woodworking machinery, arid is the only one of its kind in the world, as the patents are all owned by the firm, giving a practical monopoly in the business.
As Mr. Kettenring has made his way in life through his own efforts, beginning his business career without capital, the following history will be read with unusual interest. He was born January 6, 1836, in Thaleschweiler, Germany, in the Rhine district, where his father, Adam Kettenring, was then engaged in farming. In the spring of 1836 Adam Kettenring came to America with his wife and son Peter, and located in Pleasant township, Henry county, purchasing three hundred sixty acres of government land in an unimproved state. This he brought under cultivation, making a fine homestead; but in the spring of 1844 he moved temporarily to Defiance, where he followed plastering and similar occupations for a few years. Later he returned to his homestead, and his death occurred there in 1887. He was a devout Methodist, and was one of the pioneer workers in that church in this section, his home being a regular stopping place for the itinerant preachers of the early days. Plis first wife, whose maiden name was Charlotte Alspaugh, died in 1854, leaving three children: Kate,
Mary and Peter. The father married again, in 1864, but there were no children by the second union.
Mr. Kettenring, our subject, attended the common schools of Defiance until he reached the age of fourteen, but his education was mainly obtained in the practical school of business life, as he began at that age to earn his own livelihood. For two years he served an apprenticeship to the moulders’ trade, with Kimball & Frank, of Defiance, who owned a small plant, employing about half a dozen hands, and he then went to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he was employed in the same line of work. In 1856 he returned to Defiance, and established himself in business on his own account in the same shop where he had formerly been employed. He made a specialty of the manufacture of plows, and also did much general repair work at first; but as time passed he built up a large foundry and machine-manufacturing plant. In 1864 the establishment was destroyed by fire, causing a total loss, but Mr. Kettenring bravely began work again, and the enterprise has since been carried on with increasing success. Occasionally he would have a partner for a time, but the business was mainly conducted by him alone until 1872, when the “Defiance Machine Works” was incorporated with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars. Since that time he has held the position of president of the company, and his experience and skill are still leading factors in the success of the business. In 1894 and 1896 he made extended trips through Europe, and increased the trade of his firm materially, placing twenty-five machines in a plant at Zurich, Switzerland, and a number in an establishment at Christiania, Norway, besides many isolated machines in other cities. The variety and number of the machines constructed by the firm may be inferred from the fact that in 1895 they issued five thousand catalogues of two hundred eight pages each, containing artistic cuts and descriptions of machines varying in price from seventy-five dollars to one thousand five hundred dollars. When in full headway the plant employs about one hundred fifty hands, and in prosperous years the value of the output amounts to thousands of dollars annually. Their specialty is hub, spoke, wheel and bending machinery, plow-handle machinery, room, rake, fork and hoe-handle machinery, lathes for turning gun stocks, neckyokes, singletrees, ten-pins, ball bats, Indian clubs, dumb bells, table legs, axe handles, hammer handles, sledge handles, pick handles, hatchet handles, wagon axletrees and ox yokes. They make lathes to turn round, oval, hexagon and octagon and square at will. They make a line of over three hundred different machines. While Mr. Kettenring’s attention has been chiefly devoted to pushing the interests of this firm, he is also identified with other important enterprises, and for ten years past has been a director in the First National Bank of Defiance.
In 1856 our subject was married to Miss Frances Kahlo, and the union has been blessed with eight children, three of whom died young. The five living are William A.; Ransom P.; Charles H.; Alice M.; and Nellie. William A. and Alice M. are both married. The three sons are actively engaged in the business, all holding responsible positions, and all being thorough mechanics. Having been brought up in the business, they are thoroughly competent to continue the business for years to come; and there are two grandsons, who can follow after the sons. The company is now doing business in England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Russia, China, Japan, South
Africa, New Zealand and New South Wales. In fact, they have the world for a market.
Mr. Kettenring was reared in the Methodist Church, and has always adhered to that faith, being a leadingmember of the society at Defiance, in which he has served as trustee for twenty-five years, and as treasurer for seven years. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having taken all the degrees up to and including the Scottish Rite, to which his three sons have also attained. Politically he is a stanch Republican, having supported that party from the first election of Lincoln in 1860 to the fight for honest money in 1896, and his three sons are in full accord with his principles.
As printed in Commemorative biographical record of northwestern Ohio : including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams and Fulton, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and (1899). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
Named in this biography: Henry Brechbill
Their biographies name Peter Kettenring: Henry B. Hall (b. 1814)
The printed record stops around 1899. We trace your line from there down to you, with every source cited.